Get Ready to #Act4MentalHealth

Sep 3, 2014

Get out your smart phone and snap that selfie! It’s for a good cause—NAMI’s National Day of Action on Sept. 4.

We all know the statistics: 1 in 4 Americans live with a mental illness and 1 in 17 live with a serious mental illness. That’s more than 60 million Americans. When you combine that with all of the family members and friends , that means just about everyone is affected by mental illness.

As overwhelming as those numbers are, there is a way that we can use them to find strength. For one, we can be certain that we are not alone and two, we can use that impact to show Congress just how important it is for them to take action and reform mental health care.

Social media provide fantastic platforms for us to advocate for mental health reform and show that it’s important to millions of Americans.

NAMI’s National Day of Action on September 4 is our chance to do that. No matter where you are, you can help.

For those attending the NAMI National Convention in Washington, D.C. we will be traveling to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress and their staff in person to tell them why we need mental health reform this year.

For everyone at home there is still much you can do too:

• Join our Thunderclap campaign. When a message is sent simultaneously, the effect is even greater, and Thunderclap does that for us automatically. Simply pledge your support through your tumblr page, Facebook page or Twitter account and Thunderclap will take care of the rest.
• Share your own tweet or use one that we came up with for you to tell your members of Congress to take action. Don’t forget to use the and follow @NAMICommunicate. You can even post a picture on your Instagram account and then share it on Twitter and Facebook!
• Contact your members of Congress and tell them why you need them to pass mental health legislation this year.
• Raise awareness! Show your support on social media by changing your profile picture or cover photo. Wear green and submit your story to our tumblr page explaining why you will #Act4MentalHealth and then share with your friends.

The support we have already received is inspiring. Almost 2,000 people are engaging on our #Act4MentalHealth tumblr page and more than 650 people have pledged their support on our Thunderclap campaign. That brings our social reach, the number of people who will hear our message to almost 1 million. But that’s not a reason to stop.

Our message is simple: pass comprehensive mental health legislation this year. Executive Director Mary Giliberti has written about the specifics that NAMI would like to see for those living with mental illness and their families in a bill passed this year.

We hope that you will join us on Sept. 4 and tell Congress that they cannot ignore this issue. We are going to #Act4MentalHealth. Are you?